India’s number three operator Idea Cellular has reportedly put its 11,000 towers on the block, setting a price of some Rs75.8bn (US$1.2bn).
The deal has attracted interest from independent towercos Axiata, Bharti Infratel and American Tower,…
India’s number three operator Idea Cellular has reportedly put its 11,000 towers on the block, setting a price of some Rs75.8bn (US$1.2bn).
The deal has attracted interest from independent towercos Axiata, Bharti Infratel and American Tower, according to the Economic Times.
The group is just one of India’s telcos looking to raise money following the country’s record-breaking spectrum auction.
Since then, RCom is considering a sale of its majority stake in Reliance Infratel and has raised a US$300m bond, Bharti has raised US$2.5bn from Chinese banks, and Reliance Jio has inked a US$750m loan.
Idea has consolidated debt of Rs 140bn crore, the report said, pointing to analyst expectations that its net debt to gross operating profit will rise to 2.9 this fiscal year, compared with 1.3 last fiscal year.
Idea is owned by Aditya Birla Group (49.05%), Axiata Group Berhad (19.96%) and Providence (10.6%).
Axiata reportedly approached the group about a tower sale in 2012, while Bharti Infratel is on the lookout for acquisitions in the region. American Tower, for its part, has been linked to recent interest in Viom Networks and Reliance Infratel.
Spokespeople for the companies were not available for immediate comment.
